Regensburg

I headed to the train station this morning to go to Regensburg on a day tour.

On the way, I stopped by St. Michael's because that was the one place I had not yet gone to that was on my list.

I got to the meeting point and discovered the guide for the tour called in sick, and they were not able to find a new guide. So the rep gave me a map of Regensburg with some suggestions on what to do. I bought my train ticket and was off.

I'm glad I went. The Celts settled in the area around 500 B.C. and the Romans came in AD 179, so there is a lot of history there. Charlemagne arrived at the end of the 8th center and made it part of his domain. The town managed to survive both world wars.

The best part was St. Peter's Cathedral. It made going the 1.5 hour train ride more than worth it. It was magnificent! Construction began in the 13th century and dragged on for 600 years, finally finished by Ludwig I. The ceilings were high and the stain-glass windows were amazing in their detail.

I also went to the Stone Bridge which was completed in 1146! So many feet have trod there.

I walked around the Old City hitting up the the Old Town Hall, Emmeram Palace, Thur and Taxis Palace, St. Emmeram Church (which was very nice and worn), the Neupfarrplaz (which is the site of where the Jewish ghetto was, the Jews were evicted in 1519 due to superstition) and more.

Funny story, as I was looking at the palace, out walks a couple from my tour. They are from Calgary and are currently on a river cruise. It was so funny running into them. Then less than 30 minutes later I ran into Star and Ann from the tour. I had had dinner with them and their two friends during the tour. It was actually very good to see them. They were very kind to me. Ann, who is probably in her 60s or 70s, has never been married. So we were talked about marriage and God during our dinner together.

I meant to take an earlier train so it would still be light when I got back, but I missed it by ten minutes or so. So I had to catch the next train and they run every hour. So when I got back to Munich, it was dark. But I just walked by instinct and soon saw the dome to one of the churches and just headed that way.

Tomorrow is my last full day here! It's kind of bittersweet. I want to go home, but I also want to see more. This is the part where I think I should have come home Saturday and then had Sunday and Monday to recover, but I think coming home Thursday will be good. I need to reset and I want to clean out my closet.